Acceptance
by 99hearts
Summary: Rose has to learn to accept the Doctor, her Doctor. Spoilers for Journey's End. ROSE/TEN. R


As the TARDIS de-materialised in front of them he slid his right hand around her left, their fingers entwined. Spoilers for 'Journey's End'.

**Title:** Keeping You  
**Chapter**: Prologue - Acceptance  
**Rating:** PG-13 (for a very sexy kiss XD)  
**Genre:** Angst/Romance  
**Spoiler:** Journey's End  
**Characters: **Ten/Rose, Pete, Jackie.  
**Summary:** Rose has to learn to accept the Doctor, her Doctor.  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Doctor Who. This story was written out of pure enjoyment. I gain no benefits or money.  
**Author's Note:** This is my first fan-fic ever. Please be kind. I will be writing more chapters over the next coming weeks depending on how well received this first one is.

PROLOGUE

As the TARDIS de-materialised in front of them he slid his right hand around her left, their fingers entwined. The grip was strong. It was a gesture of comfort, for the both of them. Rose knew the stranger beside her sympathised her loss. Silence now held the atmosphere bringing forth an echo of melancholy as the music of the TARDIS became a shallow memory. This creeping sadness thickened the uncomfortable silence between them. She shrugged his hand off. Rose knew it was rude, but didn't care even though he was feeling the same heart break. She had to move away from this stranger that seemed so familiar, yet this pressing sorrow that shadowed her heart made him appear more alien to her than ever before, despite the fact that he was half human. Rose moved over in front of the tide, pretending to gaze over the horizon, the waves gently caressing the sand. Her mind was blank, what happened only a moment ago completely erased any coherent thoughts, only flashes of memories from a time long ago, of space travel and adventures absorbed her thoughts. It was finally gone now and it will never happen again. It was finite. It took her a moment to realise that she was crying again. She had even forgotten her mother, who was standing surprisingly patient a few metres away. Rose looked back at the tide studying how for a split-second the waves embraced the sand only to be taken back by the tide and returning again to touch the land. The repetition was quite moving. It reminded her of what it was like to be with the Doctor. During her travels with the Doctor, they would always – somehow – manage to split up, but always returning in each others arms in the end. Even on Bad Wolf Bay after the war and Torchwood, on the second worst day of her life, she clung to hope that the barriers of this parallel universe would shatter and allow her to be reunited with the Doctor - forever. But not any more. No, not now. Nothing would bring him back, because of _him_.

She turned to look at the man who resembled him in so many ways and yet it wasn't him, it just wasn't. She couldn't except it. He wasn't looking at her; instead his head was hung, eyes staring at eternity. His eyes were that of a Timelord but with the body of a mortal and the heart of a human being. It wasn't until she finally saw the sadness, the pain of what he had loss, the same pain that she shared, when she realised how terribly selfish she had been. Rose moved, standing beside the half Timelord, half human and mimicked what he had done only moments before for herself, she slid her left hand around his right. Her grip was strong and the gesture was comforting. He shifted, looking down at her. She looked back into those Timelord eyes, and thought – instead of her own loneliness – of the loss that made him appear so vulnerable. Rose was stumped by this new frailty she had never seen before in those Timelord eyes. Space travel, time and adventures – memories of a time full of danger, hurt and pain that Rose had only thought upon moments ago now reflected in this stranger's eyes. There was more to it than that however. This man, despite only being born only a few hours ago, had all nine hundred years of the Timelord's memory. He was after all, a Timelord, only now he was part human. This human part was able to tell her how he felt, how the _Doctor _felt, but only he was able to say it – for her. He was different, yes, she knew, but he had his memories, his looks. But this was _him_. The Doctor. The man she loved and the man who obviously loved her. But now he was human, with nine hundred years of memory mirrored in those beautiful brown eyes – mortal – ready to live the rest of his life, aging every single day with her and totally and completely vulnerable. She took his left hand so that now she held both his hands and looked him straight in those immortal eyes.

'Say it again,' she demanded gently as his hands invited themselves around her waist.

A curve lifted his lips, 'Does it really need saying, again?'

'Say it again!' she repeated, only to be taken aback by the sudden force that crashed into her lips as the Doctor kissed her fervently. His lips tasted of sea air and a sweetness which humorously reminded her of bananas. His tongue forced her lips into submission allowing him to stroke her tongue. The kiss was deep, and passionate and Rose found herself embarrassed as she realised she was getting very hot, and turned on, while her mother was still only ten metres away. She ended the kiss after seductively sucking his bottom lip. They were still very close, clinging to each other and Rose could feel his warm breath against her lips. He looked absolutely, undeniably ravishing as she looked up at him, seeing that he too looked a little blushed, embarrassed and most likely turned on with a cheeky grin that lightened his face. She felt dizzy. She felt faint. This situation reminded her of New Earth, after Cassandra embodied her mind. This was a little similar except now it was all because of the Doctor. There was a slight weakness in her knees.

'What -- what was it that you wanted me to say, again?' he stuttered, as he edged a little closer to her lips. The space between them diminished as he kissed her, softer, less passionate, and more tender. He absorbed her, and made a mental note to himself that he would very much like to do this every day for the rest of his life. Just with him knowing that each kiss would be different, every stroke of skin would be unfamiliar, yet undeniably all Rose. He loved her, and he knew she loved him. The feeling sent butterflies to his stomach. He thought he couldn't get use to this but it felt so comfortable and so proper knowing that it was her. Just her for the rest of his life. For a moment he thought of the other Doctor, the other him flying around space and time, imagining all the adventures he would have without her. Now, he can't imagine a life without her. Oh, yes, there was a time when he was forced to believe that nothing would ever bring them together again, but he almost thanked the Daleks for what they did, they allowed him to be forever in her arms. And how happy he was when he saw her running towards him. No, he wouldn't swap lives with the other Doctor for all of time and space. The one adventure he can finally have. 'Oh, that's right,' he noted, his forehead resting against her own. He dragged himself out of his thoughts, 'you wanted me to tell you how much I love you. Well, Rose Tyler, I love you, so very much.' And with that he kissed the palm of her hand and just held her, in a great big, goofy hug like they had always done.

'Oh, honestly, you two! Can't keep your hands off each other, and you've completely forgotten about me, and the fact that we are on this bloody beach, again! Without a bloody car!' Jackie exclaimed her patience had finally been stretched to its limits. She rolled her eyes as her daughter giggled and started kissing the Doctor again. 'I have to do everything,' she scoffed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. 'And there's no bloody reception!' Jackie walked around as she held up her phone while softly mumbling to herself. She stomped her foot on the ground, angrily at unsuccessfully finding reception. They would have to walk all the way to the nearest village, and by the looks of it, it would be a very _long _way, as there was not a single town in sight. She hated walking. 'This is all your fault, you know, dumping us in bloody Norway!'

The Doctor put his hands up defensively, 'Oi! Don't look at me, I didn't do it, I don't have a TARDIS!' he rebutted.

'Exactly, you're useless now!'

Rose had pulled out her phone and started dialling Pete's number, 'Mum, don't get cross at him! Besides, my phone gets reception anywhere. Superphone, remember?' She smiled at the Doctor. It called, and Pete answered. 'Yeah, it's me. Yeah, I know. It's alright, we're in Norway. Yeah, I know. He's here. Dad, I know! It's okay I'll explain everything when we get home. Can you just pick us up, please? Yeah, that's right, Bad Wolf Bay, again! Yeah, alright. Love you, too, bye!' She hung up. 'He said we should get to the nearest town and find a way to Bergen. It will only take him an hour to get from London to Bergen, but we'll just have wait around the city. He's gonna come by Jet, and pick us up at the airport. The only problem is, we have no passports, so we--'

'Oh, don't worry about that,' Jackie interrupted, 'I've got that taken care of.' She opened up her jacket and pulled out a large, leather wallet from the inside pocket. She unzipped it and revealed an array of passports along with a few 200 kroner bills. 'Well, I thought, just in case we'd end up here again. And we did! I thought I might as well, to make sure. I had also brought a few American dollars, Australian and even Japanese yen, just in case we'd end up in either of those locations,' she said smugly, 'and just as well! I'm just glad we ended up here, and not the middle of Australia, or Russia.'

Rose and the Doctor looked at Jackie with a new wave of respect. They were impressed with her resources.

'Only thing is though, Doctor, I have a passport for me and Rose, but not for you.'

The Doctor shuffled, clamping his hands against his suit pockets. After a few minutes of digging through the abyss of his pockets, he pulled out his psychic paper, his sonic screwdriver and a banana. 'Thought I might get some spares, just in case,' he smirked, while peeling the skin off the banana. 'Whont shome?' he asked with a mouth full of banana.


End file.
